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Meet the narwhal
Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day! And what better way to celebrate than with an animal that I always forget exists: the narwhal. In my defense, narwhals look fake. What other animal has a giant tusk coming out of its head? I mean, besides a unicorn, and I’m pretty sure unicorns aren’t real. Narwhals are known,…
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Meet the badger
According to the calendar, it’s officially spring! Which means that it’s time to learn more about a spring animal. When I Googled “classic spring animals,” I saw one that surprised me: the badger. I’ve never personally thought of a badger as a springtime animal! But, as I soon learned, this could be because I’m American.…
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Meet the Irish elk
It’s St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate, let’s take a look at an absolutely massive animal: the Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus). The Irish elk is one of the largest deer ever, clocking in at around 7 feet tall at the shoulder (the height of an average door frame). Unfortunately, you’ll never be able to see this…
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Meet the orca
March is Women’s History month in the United States, and this past Wednesday (March 8) was International Women’s Day. So to celebrate, I want to introduce you to a fantastic animal mother: the orca (also known as the killer whale). Orcas (Orcinus orca) are one of the most widespread species of animals and the most…
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Meet Pallas’ cat
It is officially March, and what better way to celebrate than an adorable animal: Pallas’ cat. Pallas’ cats (Otocolobus manul) are small cats that live in rocky, dry regions throughout Central Asia. They get their name from the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who first described them in 1776. Pallas’ cats look just like domestic…
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Meet the hermit crab
My partner and I are in the process of buying a house. It is not fun. So, this week, we’re escaping to the world of an animal that always has its house with it: the hermit crab. A widespread species for aquarium tide pool exhibits, there are over 800 species of hermit crabs worldwide. The…
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Meet the whiptail lizard
Tuesday was Valentine’s Day and what better way to celebrate than talking about lizards! This is a whiptail lizard (genus:Â Aspidoscelis). There are quite a few species of North American whiptail lizards. They are small lizards typically found in the southern U.S. and Mexico. They’re diurnal (active during the day) and mainly eat insects. But what’s…
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Meet the flying snakes
I’ve mentioned before how I tend to gravitate toward mammals and birds. But lately, I’ve been wanting to talk about a reptile. More specifically, I’ve been feeling like it’s snake time. But you know how I love birds, so I decided to talk about another creature that can fly: flying snakes. And no, I’m not…
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Meet the cheetah
I’m running a race this weekend in North Carolina! It’s a short race (just 5 miles). But this race does have you eat a dozen doughnuts halfway through… Don’t worry, I signed up as a ‘casual’ runner, so I don’t have to eat all the doughnuts; I’ll probably eat just one! (Really hope I don’t…
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Meet the quokka
Folks, we’re heading back to Australia this week on the blog. Australia: the place where evolution went wild. The place where it went wild and created one of the cutest animals ever: the quokka! This smiling little creature is a quokka (pronounced KWAH-kuh; Setonix brachyurus). Quokkas are about the size of a domestic cat and look…